Quick Question - Extra Blog courtesy of Memory Lucida

Roland Barthes has this picture in his book and claims that the punctum for him is not the overall affect of the picture, but instead the male child's bad teeth....I found this really bizarre...but perhaps I do not understand the picture. Why are the children smiling as if they are having a wonderful time if that boy has a gun to his head? And why is he holding the hand of whoever is pointing the gun? And why isn't Barthes outraged not at this child's teeth but at the seemingly sinister and weird story being told by this photograph. The only thing I can think is that the gun must be fake for these children to be so genuinely happy, but in the meantime, I am still confused! Is this a really well known photograph that everyone knows about and I am just undereducated and therefore horrified? At first glance this is certainly an appalling photograph...but why the joy on their young faces?